In the prior art, it is well known to make electrical connections to the coils of an electromagnetic device by utilizing a solderless terminating assembly which includes: a plastic housing on the device which has a plurality of cavities therein, each of which receives a coil lead; and an electrical terminal inserted into each cavity which serves to cut through the insulation on the coil lead and make electrical contact to the electrical conductor. Typical prior art coil terminating assemblies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,979,615 issued Sept. 6, 1976 to Nelson Edward Neff and U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,573 issued July 26, 1977 to Michael J. Hillyer et al.
In both of the above-noted prior art coil termination assemblies, the coil lead insulated with a film type insulation is suitably positioned in the cavity and the electrical terminal inserted into the cavity makes four points of electrical contact with the electrical coil lead. In addition, in the Hillyer patent the slot structure in the cavity is arranged such that insertion of the terminal causes the end of the coil lead to be drawn into the cavity.
Although the above two noted coil termination assemblies operate satisfactorily for their intended purpose, they exhibit a number of drawbacks which restrict their use. Firstly, the slots in the electrical terminal are oriented exactly at right angles to the axis of the coil lead. Thus, when the terminal is inserted into the cavity, it is possible for some of the film type insulation to remain at the conductor-terminal interface in a manner which reduces the effectiveness of the contact between the conductor and the terminal. Secondly, the relationship between the terminal and the cavity slot structure in the Hillyer patent is such that the coil lead can be completely sheared off rather than pulled into the cavity as intended.